The OC

For Labor Day weekend this year, Mike and I along with the boys headed to Southern California to see family and friends. One of our friends was getting remarried, so we decided to go to the wedding and make it a family vacation.

One of our destinations was to see Mike's aunt and uncle who live in the valley. They have a hot tub and swimming pool that we were able to make use of for a few minutes. The boys had a lot of fun splashing and trying not to drown themselves. Aaron has not had any sort of swimming lessons yet, but he didn't seem bothered by the few times he went under. Luckily both dad and Uncle Tom were always within reach of the little swimmer.

The wedding took place in San Juan Capistrano somewhat up the hillside with an absolute beautiful view of Dana Point and the Pacific Ocean. It was a beautiful wedding and a great time to catch up with some friends and meet the people who surround our friends with love since they live away from us now.

On Labor Day was Mike's birthday and what better way than to spend some time at the beach playing in the sand and surf. We spent the morning playing at Laguna Beach and enjoying the warm sunshine.

The surf was a bit scary for Aaron so he stuck his head in the sand. Aaron wanted to walk along the beach, steal other people's sand toys and people watch which mom would have gladly joined him, but I didn't want to get too far from Mike and Andy.

Mike and Andy spent a good portion of their time running in and out of the water. I won't tell you that a certain someone forgot to put sunscreen on himself and came home a lobster.

After a yummy birthday dinner at Chili's, we stopped at Trader Joe's to pick up some snacks for the trip home and I also picked up these ice cream cookie sandwiches in lieu of the birthday cake. The bon bons were chocolaty and everyone enjoyed them, especially Aaron.

Tuesday morning, after breakfast we had some time to play in the hotel pool before needing to get ready and packed up to come home. Since we had about an hour and a half drive back to LAX, we took our time driving back and stopping at a few places. One of those stops was the Harley Davidson dealer in Anaheim. All my boys enjoyed the various types of motorcycles and looking at all the gear.


I will say that air travel with two boys has always been an adventure and this trip was no different. The loud engines completely freak Aaron out so he screamed taking off and landing on both legs of the trip. Once we are airborne he is usually fine although you must have enough snacks to pacify the child and toys to play with. Andy is and always has been a rock star traveling. I'm hoping that Aaron will someday get there. However, poor dad got the worst of the trip. Andy wanted to sit by dad and we had the aisle seat and then all three seats across the way. This was great for mom who for once got to sit by herself and read. Unfortunately, Aaron ate something that caused a reaction and he puked all over himself. Luckily, I had packed extra pants, but didn't have any extra shirts for the boys. Aaron seemed totally unfazed by the whole matter, but Mike somewhat freaked out and mom sat on the other side and tried really hard not to laugh. Everyone got cleaned up and we just picked out a shirt of the luggage when we got to SeaTac.

Everyone agreed it was a great trip. We were able to eat at In-N-Out Burgers, Boston Market, Chick-fil-A, Chili's, Carl's Jr. and Sonic. Otherwise known as all the restaurants the Seattle area does not have. Okay, there is a Carl's Jr, but it's like an hour's drive away and not anywhere we normally go. Next time we head to the OC, maybe we will do Disneyland. So which grandparents want to come for that trip?